At this DDA housing colony in Delhi, how a half-built fence sparked a social divide

As the EWS homeowners intervened, the installation was stopped midway. But fasteners for the gate had already been installed on the ground by then.

Days later, on May 4, the DDA officials returned — again at night, this time with labourers and 25-30 security guards to complete installation. According to submissions made in the court, a call to the police by the EWS homeowners halted the work again. In the absence of written orders, police asked the DDA to stop work.

When The Indian Express visited the society, the fasteners are all that remain to remind one of those days.

At the heart of the dispute is not just a fence, but what it represents — a wall separating EWS homes from LIG and MIG flats. Also, different resident welfare associations (RWA) governing the two groups.

A court dispute

Dwarka Greens, launched under the DDA’s Diwali Special Housing Scheme in 2023, offered 1,008 EWS flats alongside 316 LIG and MIG units each. While the EWS flats were priced at around Rs 34 lakh, LIG units cost nearly Rs 80 lakh, and MIG flats were sold ranging between Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 2 crore.

Based on the original layout of the society, six towers – A to F – housing LIG and MIG residents have come up surrounding the central green area. In between is the community centre or facility block, and then comes the G and H towers, designated for EWS homes.

It is this physical arrangement that has now become the focal point of the contest. In the scheme’s brochure, no fencing or gate could be found.

Calling the arrangement “discriminatory”, the EWS homeowners, in court, argued that the proposed fencing was never disclosed to them when the scheme was launched and would effectively restrict their access to common facilities like the central park and community centre “situated between LIG and MIG units”.

The DDA, meanwhile, submitted that the fencing was approved to provide safe access to different blocks and to segregate the commercial or facility block from the residential block. It also insisted that common facilities would remain accessible to all residents.

On May 29, 2025, the civil court dismissed a plea moved by EWS homeowners against the fencing, citing lack of jurisdiction. When the EWS homeowners challenged the decision before a district Judge in the Dwarka court, the judge dismissed the plea on January 28 this year, maintaining that the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) is empowered to adjudicate such grievances.

Soon after, the RERA asked DDA to form a committee under the chairpersonship of Commissioner (Housing) to hear both sides and explore an amicable solution.

RWA formation fresh sticking point

On April 1, meanwhile, the DDA wrote to all residents, requesting them to make their own arrangements for security guards, as its contract with the company that provides personnel to the society would soon lapse. “By now, the RWA should have taken over the maintenance and security of the society. We can’t keep funding their security forever,” a DDA official told The Indian Express. 

But there is a small problem.

Last year, an RWA was formed comprising only LIG and MIG flat owners as members. Elections to various posts for this RWA were supposed to be held last month. 

However, the elections were postponed after the DDA wrote to the society, informing that it won’t be sending its field officials who would help conduct the elections. 

This, the DDA wrote, was due to the fact that the RWA was formed in violation of its rules. According to DDA norms, only one RWA can be registered for one society, and all allottees of each block/tower have to mandatorily become members of it.

However, according to the residents, last August, the DDA itself had approved the RWA. In December, the DDA had even given the RWA a registration certificate, they added.

“After getting all approvals from DDA, we received multiple reminders from it to form RWA for A to F blocks and take over maintenance and funds… as the project had already been completed by DDA. After we formed the RWA, we started our election process. When we declared the date of election, the DDA issued this notice to us,” said Vishnu Pratap Singh, a media professional who lives in the society.

“There are multiple DDA societies in Dwarka which have two approved RWAs,” he added, pointing to Sector 14’s Om and Kautilya apartment, and Golf Link and Samriddhi apartments in Sector 18.

For some LIG and MIG residents, the issue is also financial. 

“A single RWA would mean LIG and MIG homeowners bearing a disproportionate share of maintenance costs. Though we have paid much more for the flats and are paying higher maintenance costs, since there are more EWS flats, we are also paying for the services they enjoy,” said Kaushalendra Kishore, a nominee for the now-cancelled elections.

Speaking to The Indian Express, a DDA official maintained that the authority has no plans to install the fencing anymore at the society. “We want everyone to live as one community with a single RWA… without restricting anyone’s right to common facilities. We don’t want any ghettoisation or division on the basis of class and won’t be installing the fencing,” the official said. He added that another nearby society, which has two RWAs, has been informed that they can only form one RWA.